Lonestar failure

[Robert Burns]

Speaking of that... is there a beginners guild on changing out tubes?
Do you just automatically go with GT, or Ruby Tubes? The ones
that advertise the most? Where is there a good primer for this?
Just wondering for when i have to make a change to my VHT 2/90/2

[madryan]

Go here and read...

http://forum.grailtone.com/

[SpudBoy]

It is the power (large) tube. Thanks for the link.

[beachjammer]

Does it still do it when you switch it down to half power? Double check on what I'm about to tell you or someone here correct me if I'm wrong but, you should be able to find out which tubes your amp uses on half power and interchange the tubes to find out which, if any tubes are bad. From my understanding you can even take 2 of the 4 power amp tubes out and the amp still operate.

Don't be too quick to judge Mesa because of a possible tube problem. I've owned several of their amps ,including a Lonestar, and loved them all.

[Spivonious]

Tubes are very fragile things. If you move the amp while they are still hot or don't let the tubes warm up before turning off the standby that can seriously shorten the tube's life.

With 2 hours of practice per day, every day, I'd expect my power tubes to last about 6-12 months before the sound degraded, not 2-3 years.

[SpudBoy]

Tubes are very fragile things. If you move the amp while they are still hot or don't let the tubes warm up before turning off the standby that can seriously shorten the tube's life.

With 2 hours of practice per day, every day, I'd expect my power tubes to last about 6-12 months before the sound degraded, not 2-3 years.

thanks. I do let the tubes warm for about 2-3 minutes before playing. The amp has never been moved hot. I didn't realized how much better this amp sounded until I had to go back to my old amp. I guess I actually dialed in a decent sound over the weeks...

Is it required to replace all tubes at the same time or can I just do the Power tube alone.

thanks again

[rjohnstone]

You only need to replace the bad one, but it is a good idea to change out all the stock tubes with quality tubes.

[iced_earth]

Have you tried calling Mesa yet? They warranty their amps and their tubes, so you might just get a replacement sent in the mail.

[khabibissell]

Yeah, call Mesa. A tech will talk you through troubleshooting your issue, and I'm pretty sure your tubes are still under warranty (90 days?).

Chances are they will send you out a brand new quartet for free.

[SpudBoy]

I tried my dealer (Long and Mcquade) out in Oshawa Ontario Canada. My sales guy Bill looked for the tube and when there were none in stock referred me to service (Len). I called Len and he stole one from the floor stock and had it ready when I came in. I'll be buying a replacement set of tubes so I don't get this kind of upset again.

thanks for your input guys.

Spud

P.S. So, there was nothing wrong with my loop? That was the question after all.

[Bert]

The bassist I've been jamming with recently uses a '69 blackface fender bassman with its original tubes.... and they still sound good! I guess they don't make them like they used to!